Tuesday, August 31, 2010

I have been totally slacking off. Once the "woo, I did a triathlon" high started to wear off, the "I'm sick of my life revolving around my workout schedule" started to kick in. And every day there's been an excuse to get back to it "tomorrow".

I am thinking of finding myself a personal trainer. Not that I have the money for it.But I really could use some guidance. I wonder if anyone out there would trade baked goods and sewing skills for personal training...

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

A few months ago I promised myself that I would take a whole week off from working out after the tri. Now I find that I don't want to do that. I'm taking it easy for sure. But tonight I rather enjoyed going for a walk with my BFF and her dog. Tomorrow I'm thinking I will ride my bike someplace to get dinner.

Back in February I re-quit smoking. (I quit several years ago but relapsed for a few months this winter) I promised myself a victory cig after the race if I was a good girl and didn't smoke while I was training. Now I'm finding I don't really want one all that bad. I can't say that's a bad thing!

Monday, August 16, 2010

I decided to take the bus to the race. I can't say I was thrilled at the prospect of getting up at 4:30am, but it ended up working out great. I got there plenty early and did not have to deal with parking. I arrived at the race area around 6:40. I found my assigned rack right away and set up all my stuff. I helped myself to some free coffee, then I went to get body-marked and chipped. After that I milled around taking in the scene. I sat in the grass and did some stretches. The grass was wet but I figured it didn't matter. My clothes would all be wet soon enough, anyways.

At 7:40 there was a pre-race meeting. They introduced announcers and officials, reminded us of some rules, and then sang the national anthem (which made me cry for some reason). I was in the 4th swim wave so I just stayed on the beach after that.

My swim went VERY well. It was a little daunting seeing all the people in my wave shoot past me. But I just kept going at my own pace. I swallowed a little water as I rounded the final corner. But I never stopped. I just flipped over on my back and did the back crawl until I stopped choking. The water was a comfy 80 degrees yesterday, and the weather was mild. It was actually a little cool getting out of the water after the swim.

Then it was off on the bike portion. This was the part I was most dreading and probably the part I was least trained for. It was a nice course, for the most part. A few rough spots. Only a couple of big hills. There were no mile markers, though. So I was left to guess as to how far I'd gone. I brought a watch with me to the race, but decided at the last minute that I was not going to wear it. So that I would just concentrate on doing the race and not worry about the time. So I really had no idea of my progress. At mile 7 there was a volunteer shouting "only 8 more miles!" That was nice to know, but I thought I was closer to 10 miles at that point so it was also kinda discouraging. The last five or so miles were pretty rough. My butt was really sore at that point, for starters. And there was a really strong headwind. In spite of all the cheerful volunteers I found myself getting very frustrated. I was so glad when I reached the bike finish.

The bike leg had left me very sore and cramped up. I tried to stretch a bit, but I was really hurting. So I did not run as much as I would have liked on the run course. I was hoping for something closer to a 50/50 walk/run. But it was more like 70/30. By the time I hit the run portion I was pretty used to people passing me. But on the run it was actually kinda neat. The body-markers put our ages on the backs of our legs. So I could see the ages of the people running past me. I suppose some people might have been discouraged to see a 72 year old pass them on a race course, but really I thought it was kinda cool. I did make sure to run across the finish line.

I got my finisher medal and turned in my chip and then I promptly burst into tears. I was thankful I wore the big dark glasses so nobody could see me crying like a little girl.

I still kind of can't believe I did it. But then on the other hand I kinda can't wait until next year to see how much I improve. =)

I went to pick up my race packet yesterday, and stayed for a brief course talk. While I was waiting for the talk to start I chatted with some of the other participants. All first-timers. All in the race just for fun.

The course talk was held in the very same room I sat in a few months ago for a "first tri" clinic. But the mood in the room yesterday was one of excitement and comeraderie. And this time I actually felt like I belonged.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

I got an email tonight with some race day info and a final participant list. I know my race number, and tentatively what swim wave I am in.

Race number 292swim wave 4bike rack row 19

I kinda can't stop looking at my name on that list.

I read over all the info they sent. I'm getting a little nervous about race day now. Worried about getting lost in the chaos. There are info sessions at packet pick up. I think I will make a point of attending one.

Sunday, August 8, 2010

A week from this moment I will probably be lounging around someplace all full of food and beer.

The tri is in one week.

I'm not really that nervous. Mostly excited. To see how I do. To have a cold beer after. To be done with training. (for a while, anyways)

And also I'm kinda proud of myself. It's not so much doing the race itself but the fact that I decided to do this and stuck with the training for these last 6 or so months.

I'm usually the kind of person who gives up on things when they are boring or difficult or unpleasant. This training stuff has been all three of those things at times, but I totally stuck with it anyways. Yay me!

Sunday, August 1, 2010

I spent the day with my family out at a lake, and finally had a good opportunity an open-water swim.

The plan was I was going to swim and my dad would shadow me in his boat. That worked pretty well. It was kinda hard at first. I was breathing really fast and kept swallowing water and found it hard to get in a rhythm. So I flipped over and did a backstroke for a while until I caught my breath, then returned to the breast stroke. At one point I stopped and asked how long I'd been at it and 9 minutes had flown by. I continued swimming and at 16 minutes I was close to shore and ended up swimming all the way to shore instead of climbing back in the boat.

I have no idea how much distance I covered in that time. I have a hunch it was well over 500 yards, though.